Cinder Block Gardens [Paperback]

Lynn A. Gillespie (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2000 | ISBN-10: 1929709013 | ISBN-13: 978-1929709014

This book truly reveals the easiest gardening method. With this unique Cinder Block Gardening system you will transform your time consuming, "hard work" garden into a garden that is easy, productive and fun! The Cinder Block Garden system will put you in control of the garden, not the garden in control of you. Learn all the gardening short cuts that give you a no till garden, a virtually weed free garden, a garden that grows all your food on 1/4 the space and a garden that saves you time and money. Finally, gardening made simple and easy the way gardening should be.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Grow more, in less space, in less time. Are you ready for the easiest, abundant, most successful garden you have ever had? Then you are ready for this book.

Between the covers of this book you will learn:
> the easiest gardening method ever, made for the busiest person
> how to grow twice as much food in half as much space
> how to have a "weed free" garden
> safe, homemade remedies for killing insects
> how to make "never fail" garden soil
> how to save $500 or more annually on your grocery bill
> the secrets to building a successful compost pile
> and many more gardening tips that make gardening a breeze!

About the Author

Lynn Gillespie, brought up using organic gardening techniques, had an easy transition from school to a career in gardening. Lynn and her husband Tom built their own greenhouse complex 13 years ago that now covers almost 2 acres. Hydroponic food production was their first focus. Next, they expanded into bedding plants, house plants, perennials, trees, shrubs. In the last four years Lynn and Tom have taken their business on to the Internet, selling trees, books and non-hybrid vegetable seeds.

After family, the vegetable garden is Lynn's first love. Living on an 130 acre farm high in the Colorado Rockies, she grows almost all of the produce for her family of five in a 43.5 unit cinder block garden. Canning, dehydrating, and freezing is all in a days work for Lynn. "The garden must be easy to take care of, use little time and grow lots of food because I have so many other things to do like running the kids around and working with the milk cow, chickens and rabbits," states Lynn.

Lynn also writes for various publications on family food production and gives seminars on gardening.

Product Details

• Paperback: 206 pages
• Publisher: Tlc Pub (March 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1929709013
• ISBN-13: 978-1929709014
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #648,565 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Gardening System Since Square Foot Gardening, March 28, 2000

By 

Glen Mentgen (Colorado) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cinder Block Gardens (Paperback)

This book is a real gardening jewel. I predict that it will become a "gardening classic". It covers everything from reasons for growing your own food supply to a very detailed, vegetable-by- vegetable reference guide. Nothing is left out of this book...it covers it all: fertilizers, compost, mulching, weeding, season extenders and detailed planting guides. This book takes the work out of gardening and puts the fun back in. Definitely a gardening system for busy people, the elderly or the "little lady" that doesn't want to be bothered with ungainly garden equipment such as tillers, etc. Written with a "personal" style, that reminded me of Ruth Stout...a very well researched book, but presented in a way that everyone will enjoy.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars San Diego Gardner, April 14, 2000

By 

L Gordon (San Antonio, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cinder Block Gardens (Paperback)

What an excellent Book! I never thought that a gardening method could make such a difference...but I can see that it does. I am very anxious to try this new method this season. I am looking forward to gardening with no weeds, no bending over, in fantastic soil that my plants will thrive on. Lynn's book is very complete, showing all that you need to have a successful garden this year. She cover everything from construction, to planting guides, and pests. I like that she includes cost for everything that you would need...no surprises. I can also in-vision how gardening with the cinder block method can create a very beautiful looking garden so not only good for your health but pleasing to your eyes (and the envy of all your neighbors)! Her approach and style of writing is very easy to understand, moves right along, and is quite humorous. I recommend this book to everyone I know that is growing a vegetable garden. It makes a great gift too. Can't wait to get started! Thanks!

17 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good idea but not specific enough, June 21, 2004

By 

Taneil (Grapevine, TX United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cinder Block Gardens (Paperback)

I bought this book after a friend told me about it. I skimmed it at her house briefly and then I ordered a book for myself. After reading about it, I was excited. I have never had a garden before and Mrs. GIllespie made it sound so simple. Build a raised bed with cinder blocks, then put in the special soil mixture she recommends and plant. You will have a garden that will produce more than if you just use the natural soil or your area.

Well, I spent over $300 on a five unit garden. I even called the author and talked to her about her "soil mixture". Because when calling around for the different elements for the soil mixture, I had the people at different nursuries tell me they had something better, so I called and asked if I could use what the nurseries already had pre-made. This would have saved me eight hours of mixing the soil which consists of peat moss, sand and compost. Well Mrs. Gillespie said "If you don't do the soil mix, then you might as well throw the whole book out." Thus I decided to go ahead and make my own soil mixture according to her specifications in the book. Not having ever had a garden before I didn't know what I needed and the book wasn't specific enough. The peat moss and sand were easy to get and not worry about, but the compost was a different story. I bought compost, but only realize now that it was not the type of compost she proably uses. The compost I bought was basically mulch from last year that had composted over the winter and the nursery now called compost. But being new to gardening I didn't realize I probably needed manure compost instead. Thus I am 2 1/2 months into my garden and my plants are not producing hardly anything. My husband who planted a garden by hoeing up a portion of our back yard is producing a ton more produce than my raised bed garden with the magic soil mix.

I am very disappointed. I think that the book has a good idea with using cinderblocks for a raised bed, and that her illustrations of how many things can fit into each unit of the garden it good. However, she needed to be more specific on the type of compost and not so adament that the soil mixture is the ultimate. I could have spent a little bit more on a mixture that probably would have been excellent but since she told me on the phone that the soil mix was the point of the whole book I passed it up to try her mixture.

The book does have some good ideas but dependinding on your geographical location, some of what she says may or may not be accurate. Obviously, the soil that I have in my back yard is better than the soil mix in my cinder block garden. So, if you do the soil mixture make sure you get good compost...